The Role of the State

The Antitrust Problem of Zero-Rating

Dominant web services will often incentivize mobile phone carriers to provide their customers access to their services at zero cost to the customer’s data plan, also known as zero-rating. In new research, Bruno Renzetti argues that this behavior can be a form of exclusionary conduct designed to solidify the monopolies of dominant online platforms and services that ultimately harms consumers even if it appears to lower their data costs at first glance.

How To Handle Big Tech Acquisitions Under Uncertainty

The Federal Trade Commission recently failed to stop Meta’s acquisition of virtual reality company Within, while the Department of Justice is now attempting to...

Defer Bank Management’s Compensation for Times of Crisis

Adopting a deferred pay scheme for bank managers would provide them with needed funding during a downturn and would incentivize more conservativism when it comes to risk-taking.

Fair Treatment of Consumers at Any Price?

Many scholars and policymakers have suggested regulating firms’ ability to price discriminate between consumers when they operate in a market prone to inactive users,...

“Consumer Welfare Is Dead”: What Do We Do Instead?—A Perspective from Europe

“Consumer Welfare” has lost its place as the animating value and standard for modern antitrust. The standard is almost universally regarded as bunk and...

Understanding the DOJ’s Decision To Seek a Jury Trial in the Google Ad Tech Case

The Department of Justice recently sued Google for conduct relating to its ad tech services, accusing the search giant of unlawful monopolization. In an...

Gambling for Resurrection: How U.S. Banks Hedged Interest Rate Risk During 2022 Monetary Tightening

Following a widely cited report on unrecognized bank losses due to interest rate rises, Amit Seru and his co-authors have taken a close look...

Economists Are Still Right About Airline Deregulation!

Would increasing regulation of the U.S. airline industry resolve the issues that Americans have heard about and experienced in the past few months? Clifford...

Resolving the Banking Crisis

Following up their recent analysis of risk in the banking system, DeMarzo, Jiang, Krishnamurthy, Matvos, Piskorski and Seru argue that banks should be required...

Gauging Common Ownership in Fintech Markets

A new empirical paper estimates the scope and impact of common ownership in fintech markets. The authors find limited common ownership among private fintech...

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